


Saviour - Bucky Barnes Fanfiction

by TheWinterBuckyBarnes



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Avengers pranks, Bisexual Female Character, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes being adorable as hell while also being terrifying, Bucky PrankingvThe Avengers, Bucky being hella confused, Bucky being surprisingly good with kids, Character Death, Character Development, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Recovery, Fun, Grief/Mourning, Halloween parties, Living in the Avengers Tower, Name Changes, Not Reader Insert, Original child/teen character, Other, Pain, Pranks, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Shock, because otherwise they spoil too much, lgtbq+, me being bad at tagging, more tags to come, past trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21008903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWinterBuckyBarnes/pseuds/TheWinterBuckyBarnes
Summary: When I was eight years old, two men showed up at my door. Captain America, supporting a half-conscious Winter Soldier, begging for help. Over the next few months, Bucky and I grew close. Then seven years later, I desperately needed him after the accident, and he was there for me.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to my Beta-Reader and friend, ofgalaxxies!!!! (Please, someone tell me how to tag her properly XD)

**Melody's POV**

I was eight when it happened.

My parents were in the middle of tucking me into bed when we all heard the sound of someone banging on our front door. No one ever came out here, making visitors rare and far between, especially uninvited ones. They told me to stay there while they went to check it out, to go to sleep, but did I listen?

No.

I followed after them, curious, but the sight that met my little green eyes was nothing like what I was expecting. I had thought maybe it would be some well-dressed men from S.H.I.E.L.D., the organization my parents worked for, but there were no suits in sight. Instead, there was a man in a red, white, and blue uniform (mostly blue), supporting a man in all black with some kind of mask covering his face.

“Sarah, Marcus, please…. He needs help.” The man in blue spoke, and my parents looked at each other. Still, no one had noticed the fact that I was standing there. They were obviously worried about something, but I had no idea what.

Did they know these men? I’d never seen them before in my life.

“Steve, are you… Are you sure it’s safe? We have a daughter now, to put her in danger like th-”

“He’s not what everyone thinks. He isn’t dangerous.” The man - Steve, interrupted, before the man in black coughed violently and when back to being limp. “He’s my friend. Please, I can’t take him anywhere else.” The look in his eyes was desperate. Pleading. My dad sighed and finally waved the pair in, the man in blue thanking him profusely.

My father laid down some towels on the living room floor, helping the man in blue to lay down the man in black. The strange man in the strange armour asked my mother for things I didn’t understand, all medical supplies, and when she turned around to go fetch them, she finally laid eyes on me.

She gasped and hurried me along to my room, and once we were inside I grabbed her hand. “Momma…. Who are they?” I asked softly, looking up at her with confusion in my eyes, but she just sighed and kissed the top of my head gently.

“Just go to sleep, Melody.” She whispered, putting me back into bed, turning the light off.

I was more than confused, trying to work out what was going on, but I was already so tired, and after trying the handle to find I was stuck, I just went back to bed and fell asleep. My little eight-year-old self really had no idea who it was who’d showed up at my doorstep. My mother had locked the door to keep me in….

And to keep the stranger in black out.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, when I woke up, I found my door had been unlocked. When I crept down the hall to the living room, I saw my parents both talking to the man in blue. Only, instead of his blue uniform, he had changed into one of my dad’s t-shirts and a pair of jeans. Now I could see the man had blonde hair, something I couldn’t have known before since it was all covered by his helmet last night.

He kept glancing down at the man on the floor, who was now out of his black uniform, in similar clothing to the blonde man, but with a long-sleeved shirt and gloves. I wondered why.

My mom saw me and waved me closer, pulling me up onto her lap and saying good morning. Except, when I came closer to them, my dad had moved his chair closer to the man on the floor. The blonde man smiled at me. 

“You must be Melody?” He asked, and I nodded. “My name is Steve.” He introduced himself. But while we were talking, it seemed the man on the floor was finally beginning to wake up from whatever sedative they’d put him on for the night. 

Everything began to happen very fast, the man in blue - Steve, rushed towards the man, my father ordered my mother to get me out of there, and just like that I was being pulled into the kitchen with the doors locked behind us.

“Momma, what’s wrong? Why are we hiding from the man?” I asked softly, hearing a muffled yell, some frantic muttering, and I flinched when we heard a crash. My mother’s arms around me got tighter, and I curled into her. 

“That’s a friend of Steve’s, but… He’s dangerous, Melody. Like the bad guys Mommy and Daddy fight at work? But he’s not supposed to be a bad guy, and he was hurt, so we had to help him…” My mother tried explaining, and I thought I understood well enough.

“So even if he’s dangerous, we help him, because we help people who need it?” I questioned softly, looking up at her, and she smiled halfheartedly. 

“That’s exactly it, Melody. Clever girl.” She kissed my head gently, before Steve tried the handle, then knocked. My mother lifted me into her arms, resting me on her hip and opening the door, to see Steve standing there. 

“He should be fine,” He told my mother, “He was just a bit confused and scared when he woke up, he lashed out, but we’re all fine.” He promised her, giving the two of them a weary smile.

“But…. I don't think Melody should be around him alone, just for the time being. Just to play it safe.” He smiled down at me, before sighing softly and leaning up against the wall behind him. 

“Melody…. Do you know who the man in the living room is?” Steve asked, looking at me. I nodded. 

“He’s your friend.” 

“That’s right, he’s my friend. His name is Bucky, but… He doesn’t really remember that.” I frowned in confusion, looking a little more like a bewildered pout, and he chuckled sadly and went on. “He…. He doesn’t remember much of anything, really. He doesn’t even remember me, I don’t think.” Now Steve looked sad, as I tried to wrap my little mind around all of this. “The problem is, he might start to get angry, and if he gets angry around you he might hurt you. I don’t want that to happen. So, you can’t go anywhere near him without your parents or I with you, alright?” 

I smiled and nodded, hugging onto my mom, before my eyes lit up. “Can I go see him?” I asked excitedly, and Steve exchanged a worried glance with my mother but stayed quiet for a moment.

“Steve, I’m not sure that would be wise…” Sarah said worriedly, and Steve ran a hand over his face. 

“No, she should be able to see him.” He looked at me now. “But you have to stay close to me the whole time, understood?” I nodded happily up at the large blonde Captain, squirming a little so my mother would put me down and I walked over to him.

I followed him out into the living room to find the man named Bucky sitting down on the couch, tense, eyes darting around frantically. He kept glancing at my father who was standing on the other side of the room, watching.

As soon as we came into view, his eyes locked onto Steve, then glanced down in confusion at me. His icy blue eyes were calculating, looking for any sign of attack. The little girl in front of him didn’t _ look _ dangerous, and that was what confused him. Steve stopped me a short distance away from him, putting an arm out to stop me, but I didn’t look up at him. Steve knew that although the soldier had made no move to attack, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t.

Steve took an extra step in front of me and addressed the man on the couch. He spoke slowly, as one might speak to a frightened child.

“Bucky?” The man with the long brown hair didn’t respond, just continued to stare at me. “This is Melody, Sarah and Markus’s little girl.” Not that Bucky had any clue who they were, Steve just felt like he had to say _ something. _

When the brunette still didn’t shift his gaze, Steve got confused. Then he had an idea. My mother had come to join my father, and Steve turned to talk to them just enough that he could still keep an eye on both Melody and Bucky. He quietly asked them to leave, but promised he’d stay there with me. 

He wanted to see how this would unfold, since he’d never seen Bucky like this and wanted to know what about the child had elicited the unpredicted response. 

Closing the door behind my parents, he came back to me. This time, Bucky looked up at Steve again. Steve took a breath, asking, “Do you mind if we sit down?” Stupid question, and he didn’t get a reply, but he didn’t seem to be objecting either.

Steve motioned for me to sit on the other couch, the one that completed the corner-couch look, but not the one Bucky was sitting on. It made sense. Only instead of shying away from the long-haired man, I sat as close as I could in the corner part, and it caused Bucky to tense up and his breathing to shallow.

Steve had quickly made a move towards me, ready to protect me, but stopped himself when he saw Bucky had made absolutely no move to attack me. Instead, the blonde-haired supersoldier sat down slowly next to me, cautiously, as I watched Bucky with as much curiosity in my eyes as there was fear in his. 


	3. Chapter 3

****

**Bucky’s POV**

Pain.

That was all I could feel. Just… _Pain._

Something I’d been forced to become accustomed to during my captivity at Hydra, but it was still pain.

The bullet wound in my shoulder and the stab wounds across my body were proof of that. The scars across my mind, the lost memories, the life stripped away... But still, I dragged my feet. 

_ Right. _

_ _

_ Left.  _

_ _

_ Right. _

I had to get to cover. I was too exposed. I made my way to the forest excruciatingly slowly. I had only made it a few steps in when I tripped over some raised tree roots, crashing into the hard earth.

Then came the pain I was all too familiar with. It was like someone was sticking a white-hot wire into my brain. The kind of pain that meant I was about to remember something. 

As anticipated, there was an onslaught of memories flashing behind my eyes in seconds. 

Saving a scrawny blonde kid from being beaten up in an alleyway. Dancing with women I didn't recognize. Falling off the train, the skinny blonde kid was there. 

No, wait. 

He wasn't skinny anymore. He was bigger than me. Screaming a name. Bucky. 

Was that my name? I couldn't be sure. 

Then more memories, less pleasant. The torture, the memory wiping. The beatings if I failed on a mission. The people I took the lives of on those missions. 

A man in a dirty blue uniform and helmet, crouching over me. Calling my name. Or, what I thought was my name. 

Wait. 

This wasn't a memory. 

I raised my head to get a better look, and shrunk away in fear. No more. Please, God, no more. No more torture. I couldn’t handle any more.

The man raised his hands to show he was unarmed. But, this didn’t make any sense. He wasn’t attacking me? What if this was a trick? Through the pain in my head, I could hear him talking to me. It sounded distant, like it was spoken through a pipe.

“Bucky? Buck, it’s me. It’s Steve.” Steve.  _ Steve _ . The scrawny kid. That was his name. Was this the same person? I couldn’t tell.

My vision started going blurry, and I began slipping in and out of consciousness, but I felt the man hoist me up so my arm was wrapped around his shoulder. 

My metal arm.

The one that had caused so much death. So many people had died because of me….

I was barely aware of the man - Steve, dragging me along with him, but not roughly as the Hydra officials would. He was  _ supporting _ me.

Eventually, we stopped, and I pried my eyes open to see what was going on. All I could tell was Steve was talking to a man and a woman inside a house. A house in the middle of the woods. Then he moved me again, and after a minute he laid me down on the ground. 

That was the last thing I remember before losing consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bucky’s POV**

I woke up to find that I’d been patched up in my sleep, I could tell that much. I also instantly realized that I was no longer in my tac suit, and my mask had been removed. 

I could hear voices, voices I didn’t recognize. Then I caught sight of an unfamiliar man above me, and I jumped up. I saw a door close in my peripherals, but I was more concerned about the two men in front of me. 

I recognized Steve from last night, and even though I didn't completely understand who he was, I knew, somewhere inside, he could be trusted. 

It was going to take a little more than that to get me to fully trust him, however. Steve stepped forward and I tensed up, but he was stupid enough to take another. 

Something clicked inside me and I saw this as a threat, so I took an extra step in and flipped him to the ground. The other man pulled out a small handgun and aimed it at me, but Steve jumped up from the ground and stood in front of me, moving towards the man, telling him to put it down. 

He hesitated, then did as instructed. Steve turned back around to face me, but was smart enough to keep his distance this time.

"Bucky? Do you know where you are?" I shook my head. Nothing around here looked remotely familiar. "These people are friends of mine, and they're kind enough to let us stay here. You're safe." My stance didn't change. 

"Here, Buck why don't you sit down?" He motioned to the couch, and letting my mind take that as an order, I sat. Although… The name he was using still felt foreign to me.

He backed up and entered the same door I'd seen shut earlier. The apparent friend of Steve's stayed against the wall opposite me, watching me. I slumped over, still scared and confused as to what was going on. None of this was making any sense.

Steve stayed in the room for only a few minutes, but it was long enough for Bucky to start getting wrapped up in his thoughts. 

The attack. 

He’d been sent on a solo mission, something that was usually easy for him, but this time they’d been ready and waiting. He’d been lucky, if that was ever the appropriate word in his case, to be alive. 

I only snapped out of it when I heard someone talking to me. Oh. It was still Steve. 

I’d really have to work on recognizing that voice….

My eyes snapped up to meet his, before noticing a little girl standing beside him. Her brown hair framed her face as she held my gaze in her little green eyes. My programming had taken over and I was looking for any sign of a threat, but that wasn't what this little girl was. 

Was she? How could she harm me? 

I could hear Steve saying something about her but I wasn't listening. I was focused on the girl. 

The only emotion in her face was curiosity; her eyes were filled with it. But why wasn't she afraid of me? 

I was so focused, I didn’t even realize Steve had moved, gotten the others in the room to leave, and returned to the little girl before I finally looked up at him. 

“Do you mind if we sit down?” He asked. This was new. No one ever asked what I wanted, if I minded…. No one cared. I wasn’t sure what to do so I didn’t respond, but I watched them move anyways.

Steve motioned at the second couch beside me, and the little girl sat as close to me as possible. I sat bolt upright, tense and ready to defend my self by instinct, then reminded myself she was no threat. 

Steve had made a quick move forward, probably to defend the child from me if he had to, but seeing me stop, he straightened up again. He sat down slowly on her other side, but I was looking at her. 

She confused and frightened me. Why wasn't she afraid? Everyone feared me. 

But not her. 

Maybe she wasn't afraid, but I was. 

Afraid of being re-captured. Afraid of being imprisoned. Afraid of going back to HYDRA, causing more pain, more death, more suffering... But this girl wasn't HYDRA, she couldn't be.

All of this was whirling around in my mind as we watched each other, green eyes staring wondrously into my icy blue ones, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through her head that made me  _ not _ terrifying. Most people would’ve run screaming out of the room by now, just from me being there…

**But not her.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Steve's POV**

Over the next few days I noticed a change in Bucky whenever he was around Melody. He was gentler, kinder, and it almost seemed like he’d let his defences down around the innocent little girl.

I swear I almost saw him smile once when Melody showed him a picture she drew of him. 

His left arm was done with just a pencil; she had walked in on me changing his bandages and saw his arm, since then he's been less worried about keeping his metal arm covered. 

Melody loved it.

She was so innocent, maybe that's when eased him. 

He still didn't like Marcus, but didn't seem to have an issue with Sarah. Me however, well, it seemed like whenever we were alone together he grew distant, so I tried not to let that happen often. 

He was almost completely healed thanks to the serums HYDRA had put in him, and was I ever glad to see that. I sat in the guest room with Bucky and Melody while they were laying down on the bed and Melody was reading him one of her storybooks, Jack and the Beanstalk. She had begged me to let her read him a 'bedtime story', and he was actually kind of intrigued as he'd never heard it before. 

About halfway through, she handed the book to Bucky and asked him to read it. He was taken aback, but reluctantly took the book and started reading from it. His voice started out rough and slightly hoarse from lack of use; he didn't really talk much. 

Melody snuggled herself into his right arm, which caused him to stop reading for a second and glance at me. I nodded reassuringly, and he continued. 

After a few minutes, Melody had fallen asleep on his arm, and he looked like he didn't want to move for fear of waking her. I stepped out for a moment, just to see what would happen since I was no longer afraid of Manda and Bucky being alone together, and when I got back over ten minutes later with a glass of water and a bit of a snack, I saw he'd set the book down and closed his eyes beside her. 

His breathing was evening out and I could tell he was fast asleep. I smiled to myself. This was the first sleep Bucky had gotten since he arrived here, and on top of that… This was the first time since the forties I’d seen him actually look peaceful.

I went to shut the door, but before I could, I watched him roll over and wrap an arm protectively around her. 

His metal arm. 

He was always so careful not to touch her with his left arm. I guessed he was afraid to hurt her. It was nice to see him do it, even if it was subconsciously.

I shut the door quietly behind me and stepped into the kitchen to grab a drink, then going over to talk to Marcus. It bothered me how little he trusted Bucky, but I couldn't really blame him. As an agent of S.H.E.I.L.D. Marcus and Sarah alike had heard all about the Winter Soldier and what he’d done…. And now it was my job to show them that the man I’d brought into their home was not the Winter Soldier, but Bucky Barnes.

I hoped.

Sara was sitting beside Marcus and I sat down opposite them. The first thing out of Marcus's mouth was, understandably, "Where's Melody?"

"She's still in the spare room with Bucky. She's fine, their asleep." I tried reassuring him, but it had little effect.

"You left her alone with him?" He stood up, taking a step towards the room. I grabbed him, not hard, but firmly enough to make him look back.

"He's not as dangerous as you think. Besides" I stood up. "In case you haven't noticed, this is the first sleep he's gotten since I brought him here. I don't know what it is, but Melody seems to calm him down." This made Marcus frown. "Here, let me show you." 

I went in front of him, guiding him to the door. He stood beside me and I cracked the door open to see that neither one of them had moved. 

Marcus obviously didn't like how Bucky's arm was wrapped around her, most likely because of the fact that it was  _ metal _ and could easily kill her, but trusting me he seemed satisfied. We went to sit back down, this time Sarah had left us. We sat in semi-comfortable silence until Marcus spoke up.

"Why do you think it is that Barnes is so comfortable around Melody?" He looked genuinely confused. "And why does she like him so much?"

I sighed. "I don't know Marcus, I don't know. But for now, let's use that to our advantage. Since he seems so much more comfortable when he's with her, maybe he'll be more willing to cooperate with us. How long do you think Buck can stay here?" I questioned. I didn't think he'd be very welcome at the compound, nor Sam's house, not yet anyway. He really didn't have anywhere else to go.

"Well Steve, if it were up to me he'd be out already, but Sarah seems to want to give him a chance. So, I guess you can stay as long as you like. We only have one extra bed, and if Barnes is gonna take that, I hope you're fine with the couch." He sighed and stood up.

"Thank you, Marcus. This really means a lot to me. I owe you."

"You’re darn right you do. Now, I'm going to bed, Sarah's probably already drifting off. G'night, Cap."

"Goodnight Marcus." 

I smirked and chuckled softly to myself, knowing that the only reason he said 'Darn' was because Tony had gone and spread that ‘language’ thing all over S.H.I.E.L.D. 

I sat there for a couple more hours, just thinking, until somewhere late in the night my mind finally allowed me to sleep. 

I’d honestly gotten about as much sleep as the brunette in the other room during the dime we’d been here. It was nice to finally manage a little sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On my copy of this over on Wattpad, people actually asked if this would turn romantic. Um, no?!? He’s protective of her, fatherly, but they will never, ever be in any sort of romantic relationship. That’s wrong on so many levels. So if you take the cute fluff in this chapter, or any other chapter for that matter, to be romantic, please keep it to yourself. It’s just wrong, and is never my intention. Bucky would never, ever get involved with a CHILD.


	6. Chapter 6

**Steve's POV**

Over the next few days I noticed a change in Bucky whenever he was around Melody. He was gentler, kinder, and it almost seemed like he’d let his defences down around the innocent little girl.

I swear I almost saw him smile once when Melody showed him a picture she drew of him. 

His left arm was done with just a pencil; she had walked in on me changing his bandages and saw his arm, since then he's been less worried about keeping his metal arm covered. 

Melody loved it.

She was so innocent, maybe that's when eased him. 

He still didn't like Marcus, but didn't seem to have an issue with Sarah. Me however, well, it seemed like whenever we were alone together he grew distant, so I tried not to let that happen often. 

He was almost completely healed thanks to the serums HYDRA had put in him, and was I ever glad to see that. I sat in the guest room with Bucky and Melody while they were laying down on the bed and Melody was reading him one of her storybooks, Jack and the Beanstalk. She had begged me to let her read him a 'bedtime story', and he was actually kind of intrigued as he'd never heard it before. 

About halfway through, she handed the book to Bucky and asked him to read it. He was taken aback, but reluctantly took the book and started reading from it. His voice started out rough and slightly hoarse from lack of use; he didn't really talk much. 

Melody snuggled herself into his right arm, which caused him to stop reading for a second and glance at me. I nodded reassuringly, and he continued. 

After a few minutes, Melody had fallen asleep on his arm, and he looked like he didn't want to move for fear of waking her. I stepped out for a moment, just to see what would happen since I was no longer afraid of Manda and Bucky being alone together, and when I got back over ten minutes later with a glass of water and a bit of a snack, I saw he'd set the book down and closed his eyes beside her. 

His breathing was evening out and I could tell he was fast asleep. I smiled to myself. This was the first sleep Bucky had gotten since he arrived here, and on top of that… This was the first time since the forties I’d seen him actually look peaceful.

I went to shut the door, but before I could, I watched him roll over and wrap an arm protectively around her. 

His metal arm. 

He was always so careful not to touch her with his left arm. I guessed he was afraid to hurt her. It was nice to see him do it, even if it was subconsciously.

I shut the door quietly behind me and stepped into the kitchen to grab a drink, then going over to talk to Marcus. It bothered me how little he trusted Bucky, but I couldn't really blame him. As an agent of S.H.E.I.L.D. Marcus and Sarah alike had heard all about the Winter Soldier and what he’d done…. And now it was my job to show them that the man I’d brought into their home was not the Winter Soldier, but Bucky Barnes.

I hoped.

Sara was sitting beside Marcus and I sat down opposite them. The first thing out of Marcus's mouth was, understandably, "Where's Melody?"

"She's still in the spare room with Bucky. She's fine, their asleep." I tried reassuring him, but it had little effect.

"You left her alone with him?" He stood up, taking a step towards the room. I grabbed him, not hard, but firmly enough to make him look back.

"He's not as dangerous as you think. Besides" I stood up. "In case you haven't noticed, this is the first sleep he's gotten since I brought him here. I don't know what it is, but Melody seems to calm him down." This made Marcus frown. "Here, let me show you." 

I went in front of him, guiding him to the door. He stood beside me and I cracked the door open to see that neither one of them had moved. 

Marcus obviously didn't like how Bucky's arm was wrapped around her, most likely because of the fact that it was  _ metal _ and could easily kill her, but trusting me he seemed satisfied. We went to sit back down, this time Sarah had left us. We sat in semi-comfortable silence until Marcus spoke up.

"Why do you think it is that Barnes is so comfortable around Melody?" He looked genuinely confused. "And why on earth does she like him so much?"

I sighed. "I don't know Marcus, I don't know. But for now, let's use that to our advantage. Since he seems so much more comfortable when he's with her, maybe he'll be more willing to cooperate with us. How long do you think Buck can stay here?" I questioned. I didn't think he'd be very welcome at the compound, nor Sam's house, not yet anyway. He really didn't have anywhere else to go.

"Well Steve, if it were up to me he'd be out already, but Sarah seems to want to give him a chance. So, I guess you can stay as long as you like. We only have one extra bed, and if Barnes is gonna take that, I hope you're fine with the couch." He sighed and stood up.

"Thank you, Marcus. This really means a lot to me. I owe you."

"You’re darn right you do. Now, I'm going to bed, Sarah's probably already drifting off. G'night, Cap."

"Goodnight Marcus." 

I smirked and chuckled softly to myself, knowing that the only reason he said 'Darn' was because Tony had gone and spread that ‘language’ thing all over S.H.I.E.L.D. 

I sat there for a couple more hours, just thinking, until somewhere late in the night my mind finally allowed me to sleep. 

I’d honestly gotten about as much sleep as the brunette in the other room during the dime we’d been here. It was nice to finally manage a little sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On my copy of this over on Wattpad, people actually asked if this would turn romantic. Um, no?!? He’s protective of her, fatherly, but they will never, ever be in any sort of romantic relationship. That’s wrong on so many levels. So if you take the cute fluff in this chapter, or any other chapter for that matter, to be romantic, please keep it to yourself. It’s just wrong, and is never my intention.
> 
> PEDOPHILIA IS WRONG.


	7. Chapter 7

**Bucky's POV**

I woke up the next morning to find my left arm wrapped around Melody’s little body, and immediately pulled it away. What if I’d hurt her in my sleep? 

Sleep. 

When was the last time I slept? I didn't remember, and I didn't think cryo counted. She stirred slightly, rolled over and snuggled into my chest, going back to sleep. 

I froze, unsure of what to do. I didn't want to wake her, so I laid back down and stayed there for a while. When she still didn't move, I gently moved her off of me, barely touching her, and made my way out of the room. 

I crept down the hall, all senses alert, until Steve came into view, passed out on the couch. I glanced at the clock and saw it was only 5 in the morning. I had discovered that the rest of the residents of the house didn’t wake until closer to seven, so I figured I was the only one awake.

No sleeping, remember? I had to figure out the ‘routine’ so that I could feel more in control. Ha. What a joke. As if I ever got to feel in control. 

I sighed, running a hand over my face as I stood there, deciding to take a shower. 

I had been shown how to operate the shower, though it was still a little confusing so I turned it on and turned it hot with little difficulty, stripped, and got in. I stood there for a  _ long _ time, just letting the water run over my face and pretending like it was washing away some of the blood that would permanently ‘stain’ my skin.

I was getting more comfortable here, but it was still strange. It was obvious Marcus still didn't really trust me, but why should he? After everything I'd done... I shook the thought from my head. I couldn't think like that anymore. I was going to get better, right? 

_ Right? _

I sighed, deciding to wash. As I scrubbed the soap over my body, my thought process took me somewhere else. 

Melody.

Why did she trust me? Why wasn't she afraid of me, of my arm?  _ Because she has no idea who you are, _ I reminded myself.

My next questions were harder to answer. Why did _ I _ trust  _ her _ ? Maybe it was because I knew she wasn't judging me 24/7, or trying to make me something from my past. 

I knew Steve meant well, but I knew he still wanted the old Bucky back. And, the Bucky the Captain remembered…. I didn’t even really remember him. That man was dead. He died when he fell off a train seventy years ago.

Maybe it was because she was the happiest thing I'd seen for 70 years. Whatever it was, I really didn’t know.

These kinds of thoughts were spinning around in my mind as I dried and changed, stepping out of the bathroom and nearly bumping into Steve> I instantly went rigid and got ready to attack, before I forced myself to relax. 

_ Stop it!!  _

"Your up! I didn't expect anyone else to be up already." He said, smiling. he put a hand on my shoulder. "How're you doing Buck? You ok?' I nodded, glancing down, despite feeling detached from the name, because I knew it referred to me.

"It's just a lot to get used to," I muttered, not wanting to wake anyone. We stood there semi-awkwardly for a few moments until Steve spoke up. 

"Bucky," He started, rather hesitantly "I was wondering if you wanted to come train with me? There are a few punching bags in the basement, and the floors are pretty thick. We could spar too, I don't think we'd wake anyone." He looked hopeful. 

I stayed quiet for a long moment, unsure. I was terrified of hurting him, but my serum was copied from his. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. After another second, I agreed. After all, I could imagine it was like an order from a handler, for training, and then it would make more sense.

"Great! Give me a sec to change, you can do the same if you'd like, and I'll meet you downstairs." I nodded and returned Steve's beaming smile with a smaller, uncertain one. I decided against changing so I make my way downstairs to see if I could find some hand wraps. 

I turned the light on to reveal a full training room. I was impressed. I quickly found what I was looking for and started wrapping my right hand, finishing up as Steve walked in.

Even Hydra had let me use a hand wrap…. Sometimes.

** _Time Skip_ **

After destroying two of the punching bags and spilling sand all over the tarp we'd laid down, Steve finally convinced me to spar with him. We were well-matched, and after a few minutes of back and forth, I had stopped holding back. 

This came naturally to me, it was what I was programmed for, but I remained in control. Seeing an opening and sweeping Steve's legs out from under him, I stepped in to grab his hand to pull him up, and that's when I saw the one thing I most certainly wasn’t ready for.

Melody, standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching me fight like the monster I was.

I instantly froze. I didn't want Manda to see me fighting; I was worried she'd be afraid of me if she did. But…

She was smiling. 

Steve grabbed my still outstretched hand and pulled himself up, following my gaze. His eyes widened, but she came towards us.

"That was cool, Bucky! Do it again!" She cheered, much to my surprise. Steve and I exchanged a glance, before nodding, the smallest of smiles finding its way onto my face. We did it in slow motion, Steve explaining what I was doing, before I flipped him fully again. She clapped and cheered, and it was adorable.

"That's enough for now," Steve told her. "What are you doing up so early anyway?"

"I was trying to find Bucky!" She told him. "Mummy said it was breakfast time." She grabbed my metal arm, she seemed to love it, and started trying to pull me back to the stairs.

"I guess we were down here a little longer than we thought, eh Buck?' He chuckled. "Ok, ok, give us a second." He conceded to appease the eager little girl, and she ran back up the stairs. 

We unwrapped our hands and made our way upstairs, and I wondered how I hadn't smelled the food before. Bacon, eggs and toast waited for us on the table, and Steve and I sat down to eat.

Eventually we got into a bit of a routine; Steve and I trained almost every day, and everyone, including Marcus, got more comfortable. A couple of months passed by before Steve told me about what was going to happen. Turns out, he had been working on getting Tony Stark to allow me to come stay at the tower, and he didn't tell me until plans were made. I didn't like the idea, but I was going along with it anyway. I didn’t really have a choice.

Of course, this upset Melody. She didn't want me to leave, but Steve promised I'd still be able to visit. I didn't really have anything to pack, so when it came time to leave, I just had to say my goodbyes and give Melody a hug. She was in tears, and I felt bad. I personally promised I'd come back soon, and she agreed. Steve had a jet arriving, and it landed shortly after.

I gave Melody one last smile before entering the jet with Steve, giving a small wave. The door shut mechanically, and I sat down, sighing, and rested my head on the wall behind me. The jet shook slightly, and we were taking off for New York City.

****

**Seven Years Later**

Things had been going great at the Tower. People had actually started to accept me, which was nice for a change, but surprising. When Stark said he'd give me a room at the tower, I didn't know that meant half a floor. It even had spare bedrooms, for god’s sake! 

Stark had also set up a way for me to visit Melody frequently. I had been going less and less recently; with her being in high school now, there weren't too many opportunities for me to go. Steve was in my room, or my apartment as I had chosen to call it, helping me try and figure out when the next visit could be. I had her schedule here, along with my own, and it was proving tricky. That's when I got the call. 

My eyes widened as I listened to the quick call from Director Fury, then I hung up and grabbed my jacket.

"What's wrong Bucky?" Steve asked, concerned.

"Something's happened with Melody. I have to go, Steve." I told him.

"Can I help?" Steve tried. I shook my head, offering a small smile before grabbing my jacket and hat and hurrying out of there. I called Stark, and he quickly arranged a jet to take me to Melody’s house. 

This was bad.

This was very, very bad.


	8. Chapter 8

**Halloween night, Manda's POV**

I was in my room getting changed into the costume Bucky and I had picked out. It was quite simple, but I thought it was cute. I had a pair of fuzzy black cat ears on, with furry black paw gloves and boots, and a fluffy black tail. 

The rest of my costume just consisted of a black tank top and leggings. I had taken some costume makeup to draw on a nose and whiskers and then added some basic lipstick and mascara. When I did a full body twirl in front of my body mirror, I smiled to myself. I liked it. 

In the room next to me, Bucky had just gotten his costume and was changing into it. No one except me knew what their costumes were, and the only reason for that was that I had bought mine. Everyone else's were meant to be a surprise. 

I stepped out of my room, playing on my phone while I waited for Bucky. He didn't take very long. I glanced up when I heard his door opened, and I smiled. I wasn't exactly sure what or who he was supposed to be, but I liked it. 

He was clad in a blue jacket with a leather strap connecting to a side holster under his right arm, brown cargo pants, leather boots and a belt with multiple compartments. His long brown hair was tied into a bun at the nape of his neck, and he was beaming from ear to ear. He obviously liked his costume, making me smile. His smile never left his face as he came over, and seeing my confusion he explained.

"This was my uniform in the 40's. Not my Sergeant’s one, this was my Howling Commando's gear." He had a sneaking suspicion that Steve had helped with it. I smiled and stood up. 

"I like it!" I said, and I meant it. It really looked good on him, and between the bun and the fact that he'd shaved, you could see his face properly. 

We headed down to the party that was just about to start, and unsurprisingly the halls were empty; everyone was already downstairs. We exchanged a glance as the elevator opened, and we made our way to the party room. 

Music was already playing, so it wasn't hard to find. Bucky opened the door for me and I stepped in shyly, eyes widening at just how many people were there. Bucky led me over to where Stark was preparing for his speech. We all knew he was going to make most of it up on the spot anyways. 

We stood on the corner beside the stage, and Stark climbed the steps. The room instantly fell quiet, the DJ behind him paused the track and the whole room fell silent in under ten seconds.

"Good evening ladies and gentleman!" He called, receiving cheers and screams in reply."Have you all been enjoying yourselves?" More cheering. "Well, the party just got ten times better, because, well, I'm here! All I wanted to say was that you all need to enjoy yourselves, that's a must, and the bar is on the house tonight! Go crazy guys!" He called loudly, turning and walking back to where the rest of the Avengers were. Bucky and I moved to join them, and I looked up at him, not sure what to do. As I said, I'd never really been to a party. 

The music started up again and half the room started dancing again to the blaring speakers. We quickly moved away, having stupidly stood directly in front of one of the massive speakers. Bucky saw my discomfort and extended his hand to me.

"May I have this dance?" He asked jokingly. I smiled and nodded, and he pulled me onto the dance floor so we blended into the crowd. 

It was an upbeat song, and he immediately started dancing. I laughed a little, and smiling, joined in. I had to admit, I loved the loud music blaring at me from all angles. The two of us danced for a while, probably about an hour or two, before finally tiring out and moving over to the bar. 

Bucky moved behind the counter, nodding at the bartender, and pulled out a beer for himself, and a cream soda for me. He slid it across the counter, before sitting down beside me, panting slightly.

"I didn't know you could dance that well," He told me, making me blush.

"I usually do it when no one can see me," I replied sheepishly. I had to admit, that was  _ fun _ . I removed one of my paws to open my drink, downing half of it. I let out a random little laugh. Maybe parties weren't that bad. Then again, it probably wouldn't be half as fun without my best friend there with me. 

After cooling off, we went right back onto the dance floor, as Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' had just started. This time it was me pulling Bucky over, him slightly confused at my excitement. We danced all night, occasionally being joined by some of the others. 

It was somewhere around 4 in the morning when the party started dying down, most of the guests now drunk, including Tony. He had had way too much to drink, and it was hilarious to watch him as he interacted with others. 

Bucky and I excused ourselves from the party and headed up to our apartment, both of us exhausted. We briefly said our goodnights, each of us heading off to get changed. 

I removed the ears, paws, and tail, staying in my tank top and leggings, before working on removing my makeup. It took a little longer than usual, but after that, I was out like a light, songs from the night still whirring around in my head. I really did love Bucky's costume, and I knew he did too. 

I was already liking it here.

When I woke up the next morning, I knew everyone else except for Steve and Bucky would be extremely hungover, and since I was tired anyway I just stayed in bed. I didn't hear any movement that would signal Bucky was up yet, so after a good while of laying there I reached over to grab my phone and earbuds. Yes, just because I had and loved my CDs, didn't mean I didn't have Spotify.

I clicked onto my daily playlist of rock-themed stuff, smiling as my ears were filled with an assortment of my favourite artists. They even got some Michael Jackson in there, oddly enough. It wasn't until I saw the light turn on on the other side of my door that I finally stood up, sighing. I debated changing, but that could wait until later. I was too comfortable anyway. I turned Spotify off, then my phone, tossing it onto the bed as I made my way to the door.

Bucky had done his best to make me feel comfortable, but it was still a bit awkward given everything. I could tell he was doing his best to keep off of the topic of my parents, but it still hung in the air. I missed them, I really did. It was strange, as when you thought about it, it was kind of like Bucky and the team were my new family, except Bucky wasn't much of a dad. That seemed to be Steve and Clint, though if either got too bad all Bucky had to do was look at them. Seriously. I could understand why people may be afraid of him, his death glares were not something to be messed with. 

I was still completely unaware of his time as the Winter Soldier, which meant everyone had to be careful not to let something slip around me. If they did, Bucky  _ might just _ kill them.

I opened my door after throwing my hair into a messy ponytail, walking sleepily over to the kitchen where I could smell he was cooking. Once given the chance, Bucky turned out to be an excellent cook, which meant he also ended up cooking for the team one of the nights I'd spent here. Dear God, was it delicious. He turned around and smiled at me, one which I returned, and as I sat on one of the barstools at the island, I caught a glimpse of the clock and saw it was nearing noon hour.

"Jeez, we slept in, didn't we?" I joked, thanking him as he slid a glass and some juice across the counter.

"Yeah... And we're probably  _ still  _ the only ones in the tower who’re awake. Nah, maybe Steve, but that's it." He replied, smiling as he flipped over the pancake in the pan. I'd never tried his pancakes before, and I would be lying to say I wasn't excited to do so. I poured myself some of the peach juice, taking a large gulp as I watched him.

"Probably." I agreed, resting my elbows on the counter and setting my chin on my hands. "Bucky, can I ask you something?" 

He looked back at me, tilting his head but nodding. I hesitated before speaking, worried about how my question might come out. "Why did you bring me here? I mean, you could have just left me to go to an orphanage, but you didn't. You brought me to the  _ Avengers  _ tower." Bucky sighed, setting down his spatula after pouring another pancake into the pan.

"I don't know, kiddo. I just couldn't sit by and let you go to some random orphanage, not when I know I'm all you had left. And besides, the team were really easy to sway, especially once Steve told them how you were able to calm me down when I was the- when I started to freak out." 

I didn't miss how he'd corrected himself, but I didn't comment on it. Instead I just nodded, chewing on the inside of my cheek as I watched him serve up some food for me.

He placed the pancakes down on a plate and I stood up to grab the syrup and butter, having to ask where the syrup was because I still hadn't found my way around his kitchen. He finished cooking his last one, before dishing out his own and setting mine in my spot. I sat down and we dug in, and it was like heaven in my mouth. I wasn't kidding when I said he was a good cook.

"These are amazing, Bucky," I told him as I took another bite, and now I wished he cooked for the team more often instead of Rhodey, because.... wow. Rhodey thought he could cook, but he really couldn't. And more importantly, because I wanted to eat more of whatever Bucky whipped up. "You need to teach me to cook." I joked. I could cook, but not like this. No way.

"So, anything on for today? Or are we just letting the team have their hangovers in peace?" I asked. I watched him as he thought, and I slightly regretted asking as a smirk crept up onto his face.

"Well, we could, but... Wouldn't it be more fun to make it a little  _ les _ s peacefull for them?" He suggested with a grin. Of course Bucky would want to prank the team while he had the chance.

"You mean, like a prank? You want to  _ pran _ k the team while they’re hungover?" I confirmed, although I could admit, I liked the idea. "What are you thinking?" He shared a few ideas, and I contributed a few of my own, and once we had a plan together we decided not to involve Steve. Well, not in the pranking, anyways. As someone on the recieving end? That was still open. He would just try and shut down the whole operation anyway. 

We deemed most of them would still be asleep, which helped. So once we finished our breakfasts and set our dishes in the sink, we headed off to start  _ ou _ r day.


	9. Chapter 9

I slipped behind the corner as I finished setting up the last prank, quickly heading back to the rendezvous point Bucky and I had set up. We had divided the team between the two of us, and I got Clint and Steve, while Bucky took the more dangerous tasks of Tony, Bruce, and Natasha. I was a little concerned for his life with Nat, but he had insisted she not be left out. Thor had returned to Asgard sometime after the festivities, so those were our options.

We hadn't wanted to go too hard on Steve, but after discovering he was down in the training room I decided to mess with  _ his _ room. So you know what I came up with? Glitter. Everywhere. He wasn't going to be able to get that out for years to come. The red, white, and blue glitter was on his bed,  _ in _ his bed, all over and worked into his carpet, and to make matters worse I had put some- a lot -on his ceiling fan. When he turned the light on and the fan with it, as he always did Bucky told me, he was going to have a wonderful, sparkly, patriot themed surprise waiting for him. He should consider himself lucky; Bucky had actually tried to convince me to  _ paint _ his room. I valued my life, so I decided against it. Besides, he liked my idea better.

Now Clint, Clint was all Bucky's idea. We'd both watched how much he'd drank last night, and we knew he would be just as hungover as the resident playboy billionaire, so he'd taken that into consideration. I'd convinced him to watch Home Alone with me on my second night here, feeling too lonely to stay in my room on my phone. And he had a  _ huge _ flat screen TV, that he didn't seem to know how to use. Remember the trick with the glue on the cling wrap and a pile of feathers in front of a rigged fan? Well, guess what I just set up for dear old Clint? Bucky had remembered it, and suggested it to me while I, naturally, jumped all over it, offering to take that as my second prank. Only, this was on a much larger scale. Whatever glue Kevin had used, it wasn't strong enough. I wanted  _ all _ of the feathers on him. So his entire door was covered in the coated plastic wrap, using a much stronger glue that still wouldn’t actually hurt him or give him a chemical burn, and a  _ lot _ more feathers. Like, a ridiculous amount. All I had to do now was wait for Bucky to get back to safety with me before I called Clint and told him it was urgent that he come out immediately. I'd even got the tripwire all set up and ready to trigger the feathers as soon as he pulled off the wrap and stepped out of his room.

Now for Tony, the most obvious option would be to mess with his tech. Bucky could have just broken something or rigged something, but we didn't actually feel like wrecking anything. That wasn't the point of this. Now, granted the plan was still to mess with his tech, but this one was more a prank on the whole team. Being a human teen in the year 2018, I knew my way around technology and the internet. So, of course, I knew about the pranks between friends or family where you can go into their autocorrect and change what it corrects words to. Now, just picture that, but with  _ Jarvis _ . Bucky only had to use some very specific voice commands, then block Tony from changing it, with my help of course, and it was done.

Bruce, we were a little more unsure of. Neither of us wanted to do anything that might cause him to hulk out, but we still wanted our fun. He took a little longer to think of something to do to, but eventually we came up with the idea of the all-time classic of putting dye in his shampoo. Because we knew we would need something to calm him down if he started getting worryingly angry, it was only going to last a few days.

And last but not least, Natasha. Good old, cutthroat, snap your neck if you look at her the wrong way, but still sweet, cuddly and caring Natasha. That was what Bucky was just working on setting up. Checking she was actually asleep and would stay like that, he got to work. Though I didn't know it, he  _ was _ a former Hydra assassin, so he had the skillset to stay absolutely silent. First, he moved everything that she may be able to grab to help her, then grabbed his large back. Tony's supply floor had everything, and I mean  _ everything _ . Including a confusingly large amount of mousetraps. Which was odd, because he had professional exterminators, but he wasn't going to question it right now. He activated each and every one, surrounding her bed in them, and moving outwards so when he reached the door, her floor was covered in live mousetraps. Oh, and he'd also stolen her shoes. Yeah, I was a little nervous about dealing with her afterwards, but I had a metal-armed supersoldier on my side. Hopefully, I would be alright. Hopefully.

Bucky shut the door silently behind him, returning the empty bag to the storage room before hurrying to get to the meetup point to let me know he was still alive after the little stunt. He arrived with a big grin on his face, and I shared the same mischevious expression as we knew our work was done. The only one that we actually had to activate ourselves was Clint's, and I immediately pulled out my phone. I didn't want the glue to dry, did I? It took him a little longer than usual to pick up, and when he picked up his voice was slightly slurred and gruff. 

"Whaaat?" He practically whined grumpily, and Bucky had to turn away and cover his mouth to both control his laughter and let me start the facade I needed to.

"Clint! Clint, come quick, something's happened!"

"What is it?" He sounded a little more alert now, but still a little slurred.

"I don't know! Please, just come down! Quickly! And I th-" I cut myself off with a startled gasp. I dropped my voice to a frantic and hushed whisper when I spoke again, and it was hard as I could see Bucky shaking with repressed laughter. "Clint, I think there's someone in my room, and I can't open the door, and I can hear footsteps, they're getting clos-" And just like that, I hung up for effect. I started giggling myself, which turned into full blown laughter as we heard a large curse followed by the sound of the fan and coughing and hacking as the feathers did their jobs. He must have tried to eat a few, and the thought, however ridiculous, had me laughing harder. Both of us doubled over in laughter, knowing this was just the beginning of a  _ very _ amusing day to come. The best part had been when he first got hit with the feathers, the first thing he roared after removing them from his mouth was "SAM!" Yeah, remember him? There was no way Bucky was going to let him go without a prank. Only his prank was to get blamed with everyone else's pranks. No one would suspect me, I was too shy and kept to myself most of the time, and no one would suspect Bucky because, well, because he's Bucky. It's really not his style.

Bucky and I struggled to keep our fit of laughter down, hearing Clint pass the room we were in to head to my room nonetheless. We could hear him cursing and mumbling, though if he thought I was in danger he wouldn't let being hungover and covered in feathers stop him.

Once the footsteps passed, we slipped out of the room, Bucky able to be silent while I had to keep my hand clamped over my mouth as we ran to the elevator. We had to get back to our floor before Clint did, and thankfully we managed that. We staged it so he was sitting on the edge of my bed, holding me gently, as I got half under the covers and rubbed my eyes till they were a bright red. I pinched myself hard enough to make my eyes water, which was the perfect cover. Hmm, maybe I should consider becoming an actor?

Sure enough, Clint burst into my room a minute later, slowpoke, bow poised and ready. When he caught sight of us, he didn't suspect anything, and our eyes widened as if we had no idea he would look like that. To be honest, we didn't, and a slow, uncertain smile broke onto our faces. "Clint? What happened to you?" I asked innocently, trying my hardest to keep up the facade of having just woken from a bad dream and not burst out laughing like I wanted to. I could see Bucky dealing with the same internal battle as I was, and we couldn't risk making eye contact with each other. Clint just looked downright confused, which was all the more entertaining.

"Sam set something up outside of my room. Didn't you.... You called me for help, said someone was in your room! Said you were stuck?" He said, more confused by the second as an equally confused look passed over my face. Bucky quickly stepped in.

"I heard her yelling, and somehow Jarvis had put her on the phone with you. She was asleep, mostly, and it was just a nightmare. That's when it cut off, I believe when I walked in Jarvis ended the call." He lied smoothly, as I gulped and looked between the two of them, pretending not to fully understand what was going on. "You should really fix that, Clint, or no one's going to let you live it down." He suggested with a smirk, implying 'including me'. Clint narrowed his eyes and huffed, giving one of the feathers an experimental tug.

"I already tried that, dimwit! Whatever he put in front of my door, it's like crazy glue!" Bucky and I shared a look, knowing the fan would have dried the feathers onto him quickly before he could get out of the way. With another angry sigh, he left the room without another word as he went to go try to find something to help him get them off.

Bucky and I both started snickering. "Did you get it?" I asked as he removed his arms from around me. He gave me a knowing smirk and pulled out the small hidden camera, checking the video.

"You bet I did. This is priceless!" He laughed, turning it so I could see. I knew I could take the footage later and freezeframe it, getting some amazing shots to frame and tease the archer with once it was all blown over. I smirked with him, sharing another look. Everyone was sure to wake up sooner or later, and the next ones they had to look forward to would be Steve getting back from the gym, all tired and sweaty as he got ready to shower, only to be attacked by glitter, and Clint getting at Sam. This was going to be fun.

\----

We could hear the shouting from Clint and Sam a few floors above us, which was more amusing to Bucky then me, but on a Stark Pad in my hands, we were watching the live footage as we saw Steve exit the gym. We 'followed' him to his room, where we pulled up a multi-cam view and began recording it to get the perfect angles. Sure enough, with his blinds closed and him unsuspecting, when he stepped into the room he didn't see the glitter. He was wearing a white tank top that was soaked with sweat, and even in the dim light, we could tell he would be shining and dripping with it as well.  _ Perfect _ .

He flicked the light switch that was also the switch for his fan on, and his eyes widened as he was completely showered, along with the rest of his room, with glitter. The glitter went everywhere, which was more satisfying then I'd thought it would be, and we both burst into fits of laughter at his mere expression. Yeah, we were glad we'd recorded it. Faster than expected, a bellow of "SAM!!!" Could be heard both through the footage and through the floors. He stormed out of his room, trying to shake off the glitter in his hair only to work it in further. He was incredibly amused himself, but his face showed rage because he did in fact know the unremovable properties of glitter. I was actually on my back, feeling like I was dying from laughter. This was the most fun I'd had in years! And plus, what fifteen-year-old girl, or anyone on this earth for that matter, gets to prank the Avengers while protected by a metal-armed supersoldier (still didn't know it!)? A very lucky one. This was  _ so _ much better than just moping around the tower.

Yeah, Bucky had definitely been right when he said everyone would guess that Sam was the culprit, especially when there was no prank done to him. For now he had an angry, feather-covered, bow-wielding archer in his room, alongside a sparkly, patriotic supersoldier. This was hilarious! And if they were lucky (or unlucky, I haven't decided yet), the commotion would rouse the rest of the team. I wasn't going to call everyone, or they would figure something was up, so we just had to be patient for now. If not, we'd just have to wait a little longer for the rest of the surprises, and simply enjoy the show of Clint, Steve, and Sam arguing over whether or not he had done it. The best part? By the time I switched the camera to the ones in Sam's room and floor, he was already sporting a black eye. Go Clint!

Bucky and I watched the three men bicker and argue for a good few minutes, and despite his constant protests Steve and Clint were both entirely convinced that it had been Sam that pranked them. Despite his black eye, and his indignant anger for being blamed, it was obvious even through the camera that he was having a hard time not laughing at their appearances. It  _ was _ extremely amusing.

Bucky's reasoning for this particular prank session was actually just to keep me distracted. He knew I had to be taking my parents deaths rather hard, who wouldn't? Even though I hadn't really voiced much about it, my question earlier that morning about why he had taken me in sent some gears turning. It was clear I didn't want to talk or I would've already, but he wasn't so clueless as to think I was already completely moved on. So far, his plan was working.

Bruce was the next one awake, but it would be a little while before we got to see if our prank had worked or not. The dye we had chosen was the kind that would wash out in a couple of washes, which was perfect. After all, we wanted to have something reassuring to tell him if he freaked out. He took his time getting up, even though he didn't have a hangover. He never drank all that much, he didn't like it when he wasn't fully in control (for obvious reasons). While he slowly got up, finally getting into the shower, Nat woke up. This was the one I was most afraid of, even though Bucky had assured me it would be fine. What he knew and I didn't was that she would blame him, probably get mad too, but not me. Not after I'd only been in the tower for a little while.

When she pried her eyes open, groaning slightly at the swimming headache she got at the simple action, and sat up, her eyes widened to the size of toonies. She looked all around her, noting all of the mousetraps, and her first thought was actually  _ 'Clint...'.  _ He was the only one, or so she thought, that would  _ dare _ do something like this. The next thing she discovered was that anything and everything that could be used to help her get to the door had been moved to the other side of the room, completely out of reach. She was calling him quite a few m-rated names, and her cursing is what drew Jarvis's attention.

"It appears Ms. Romanoff is awake. Would you like me to show the footage of outside her door?" The A.I inquired, ever helpful. She had long since removed the emergency camera's in her room (they were  _ supposed _ to be in everyone’s rooms, for security purposes, and only accessible if requirements were met, but Nat was Nat), so the closest thing they had was the camera with A/V outside her room. Bucky's face lit up, his nod towards me accompanied with a wink to tell me things would be fine.

"Go for it, Jarvis." I agreed, and my camera view of Sam getting chewed out was replaced by the view of Nat's door. The muffled cursing was just that, muffled, and seemed to have dialed back a notch... or three. We could hear it all, including Clint's name getting tossed around, because she was extremley hungover, now wide awake, causing her to be frustrated. Thankfully, her clear thinking kicked,  _ finally _ , and she resolved to toss her comforter on the traps and put her shoes on. Except.... Her shoes were gone. She swore again, loudly, and Bucky and I both chuckled. And you know what? She would have used her phone to get someone to help her, but her phone was gone too, and Jarvis wasn't responding when she called out - Bucky's doing, of course. After a few more minutes of trying to figure out what she should do, she ended up just lying back down. Someone would come to get her for something eventually, they could help her then. For now, her headache demanded more sleep.

It wasn't exactly what they'd wanted to happen, but hey, they couldn't all turn out perfectly, could they?

Finally, after all this time, Bruce got out of the shower. Toweling his hair off after drying the rest of his body, he god himself dressed before looking in the mirror... And received quite a shock. The bright neon pink hair dye had mixed with his brown hair and turned his hair a purplish-maroon colour. It looked decent on him, to be fair, but he certainly didn't think so. "Tony!" He yelled. Hmm, guess not everyone suspected Sam then.

We flicked between the camera's a few more times, just to check if Nat had done anything else, but she hadn't. Also, the boys had taken to simply having a glaring contest, so it seemed. It was kind of anti-climatic, but we'd had our fun. Plus, we'd still get to see Bruce with pink hair, and watch Tony struggle with Jarvis later, right? Bucky and I decided to take a break and go get some food, agreeing on a curry place not too far from the tower. It would probably be best if we made ourselves scarce for an hour or two, anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

A few days had passed since Bucky and I had gone and pranked the team. Bruce's hair dye was  _ finally _ starting to come out, Nat had gotten over the mousetraps, and much to our disappointment Tony had fixed Jarvis already. Though, Jarvis still wouldn't spill on exactly who'd messed him up, bless him. Clint still had a few pieces of feather-fluff stuck to him, but he was working on it. What was probably the most amusing was that no one had found out it had been us that did it, that and the fact that Steve was still complaining about the glitter that was refusing to leave his room. And his hair. And his clothes. And his face.

What  _ was  _ different, was the fact that my spirits had dropped. I'd been spending more and more time locked up in my room, staring at pictures of my parents or just moping about, and it hadn't gone unnoticed. By anyone, but especially Bucky. I might have been happy when I first came, and stayed that way for a few days, but I was in shock. Things were finally becoming very real, and very hard to deal with. Bucky had tried to get me to talk to him a couple of times, but I'd just excused myself to go somewhere else. It was about a week and a half later that when the soft knock on my door came, followed by Bucky calling out softly to open the door, I finally did it. I stood up, looking like an absolute mess, and opened the door.

He paused for a moment, seeing my tear-stained face, eyes darting towards my bed where the few pictures I had of my parents were laid out before he stepped forward and hugged me. I wasn't expecting to like it, wanted to pull away at first as I never really liked hugs, but I stayed. I stayed in his gentle, grounding arms, face buried in his chest, as the waterworks began to flow once more. Before I knew it I was sobbing into the front of his shirt, sitting next to him on the bed while he held me and tried to comfort me.

It broke his heart, seeing me like this, but I couldn't help it. Everything hurt, I felt out of place and out of my body, and I  _ missed them _ . I missed them so much, they had been all I had. But while I'd been moping and mourning and crying silently to myself over the past few days, I'd come to a decision. I didn't want anything that tied me to them. No pictures, nothing. Not even my  _ name _ . It was irrational, I knew it. I also had a feeling I would end up regretting it. But I was in pain. Mourning  _ hurt _ . Every time I looked at their pictures, it hurt more. And more. And more. I was spiralling somewhere bad, and I could tell. I wasn't oblivious to it, and I wanted to change.

"Bucky...." I whispered after my sobs had finally died down, though my voice still sounded broken. "I want to change my name... I want to change it, can we do that?" I asked softly, voice cracking halfway through. To say the question took him by surprise would be an understatement, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it right away.

"What would you change it to?" He asked quietly after a few moments of silence. "Shade," I said quietly, knowing what I wanted. "Shade Barnes."

_ Barnes _ .

It didn't take long for Bucky to figure out what  _ that _ meant. "You... You want me to...  _ adopt _ you?" He asked, voice gentle but surprised. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes... People could call me Shae or something if they don't like Shade, but.... would you? Would you adopt me, Bucky?" I asked, fearing he would say no. It's the reason I waited so long to ask him, was because I figured he would say no. I didn't want our friendship we had to change, kind of like he was my uncle or something, but I didn't want to be an orphan. Some might think it was selfish, but they most likely had at least one of their parents, or a brother, sister,  _ someone _ . The only person I really had had his arms wrapped around me right now, thinking about what he should say to what I just asked. Or, that's what I thought. Turns out, he knew  _ exactly _ what his answer was.

"Of course..... Of course, I'll adopt you..." He whispered, hold tightening just the slightest bit. "How could I ever say no?" He murmured, and my heart soared. I was still going to call him Bucky, nothing authority wise would change between us, but I'd be his daughter, legally. "We can do it today, if you want." He offered, not bothering to remind me I should think about this, think it through, nothing like that. He knew I'd thought it through, fully, and so he knew it was what I wanted.

That was exactly what happened. A few hours later we walked out of the legal building, a small smile on my face, and Bucky with the same expression. My name was no longer Melody, a name I'd always hated anyways, Melody Reiner, but Shade Barnes. And I couldn't have been more happy, nor certain, about my decision.

Now, we  _ may _ or may not have told the team we were doing this..... So everyone was rather surprised. No one criticized it, no one made me feel bad about what I'd gone and done, and Tony, surprisingly, pulled me into a hug. Sometimes, it was hard to remember he understood what I was going through more than anyone else. "You'll get through it, kiddo…. The pain goes away, after a while. If you ever need to talk, just remember, I’m always here. Most of the time." He promised softly, before letting go and offering a gentle smile. I hadn't even said anything about why I'd done it, but Tony knew. Of course he knew. He'd done worse mourning his mom.

A few more days went by, and people were getting used to calling me by my new name. I'd dropped out of school, but I was learning more at the tower than I ever would in a classroom. The only reason I'd need my high school diploma was for College or University if I decided to go, but Tony had already promised me he'd buy my way into whatever school I wanted if I went that path.. I'd chuckled at the offer, but I was glad for it anyway. It was easier to fit in with this band of misfits than you would think, especially with how everyone just kind of accepted me without question.

I'd also discovered I had a hidden talent for the guitar. I spent my time playing around with it, with more time on my hands than was good for me, and I was getting pretty good, considering how long I'd been playing. It kept me distracted, anyways. Bucky helped with that too, giving me options for things to do, and I was grateful. He wasn't overbearing, he didn't really hover, but at least he was  _ there _ . He was there for me, whenever I needed him, whether I knew it or not.

It helped, it really did. Not being alone, that was. See, being alone physically and mentally are two completely different worlds. I'd always enjoyed being alone physically, still do. But being alone mentally was something I'd discovered I hated. Feeling like you had nobody..... It's a terrible feeling, let me just tell you that. Bucky made it all feel better, by taking away that particular kind of pain. Just by being him, and being there.

Just little things. That's all it took. I was sitting alone in my room, trying to get my fingers around a new chord I was teaching myself, when Bucky knocked at my door. It opened a moment later, revealing him with a little smile on his face. "Hey kiddo, how's it working for ya?" He asked, leaning against the wall. I raised an eyebrow but shrugged with a little smile. "I wish it /was/ working." I chuckled, causing him to do the same.

"What do you say you and I take a little walk?" He suggested, and after a moment of hesitation, I agreed. Unlike what I'd feared, nothing had really changed between the two of us. Thank  _ God _ . Because I really didn't want another father figure. I wanted a friend. He was the friend I could never have known I'd need. "Sounds good to me!" I agreed, smiling as I set the guitar down beside me on the bed and stood up to stretch. "I was thinking I could show you around a little more since you haven't really gotten the chance since you came." I lit up more at that, smiling wider and genuinely now. He could tell the difference.

"Thanks! I'd like that." I nodded, excited. I was adjusting to my new normal, but the one thing I really hadn't gotten was a decent tour of New York. I didn't want a bus tour, no. I wanted a real tour, of good places to eat, to hang out, to get away for a while... And Bucky was just the guy to do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter might be short, but it means a lot to me and holds a lot of personal value. When I wrote this I was in pain. A lot of it. And to be honest, that hasn't changed. I live vicariously through Shade, I suppose... 
> 
> Anyways.
> 
> Hope you guys are enjoying!


	11. Chapter 11

Bucky and I went everywhere. Well, no, but we went quite a few places anyways. The first thing he did was take me to his favourite cafe, for him to get coffee and for me to get a bagel and tea. We only spent a little while there, because he seemed excited to get to show me around a bit. We walked everywhere we went, because it would be useful for me to know my way around on foot, and how  _ long  _ it would take me to get there. 

He took me to a park, showing me some simple things like some rocks in the shade to chill out on, a tree he thought I should be able to climb no problem, little things like that. It was wonderful. They weren't tourist attractions, which was perfect. I really had no interest in any of those. Sure, they'd be cool to see, but how useful would that be for me?

"You know that cafe we just left?" He said after a bit as we continued to wander. 

"Mhm?" 

"That's my favourite place to get away, to just hide from everything." He admitted with a little smile, and I felt honoured he' d show me that. I supposed he understood what being an introvert was like, and how sometimes all you want is to block out the rest of the world. "Just don't tell the rest of the team. Unless they're stalking me, they don't know about it yet." He chuckled. 

Well, even if they wanted to stalk him, it wouldn't work, but I still didn't know that, or why.

We kept walking for a bit, but as we passed a window something caught my eye and I stopped. "Bucky!" He glanced over, raising an eyebrow slightly. 

"What?"  He didn't even understand what it was. I'd always heard of these, but never actually gotten the chance to visit one. 

"It's a kitten cafe! C'mon, let's go inside!" I pulled him in, a grin on my face. There were cats and kittens everywhere, and I instantly crouched down to let one sniff my hand. We could order food, but  we'd just gotten some, so I just sat down. Bucky went to sit next to me, and very nearly sat on a small beige cat the same colour as the couch, making us both laugh.

He didn't seem to want to touch them much, but he wasn't given a choice as a little black kitten crawled up onto his leg, then up his shirt to rest on his shoulder. Seeing him unsure of what to do, I reached over and gave it a little scratch between the ears. "They don't bite... Well, so long as you're gentle." The voice of the lady running it piped up. 

***

I didn't want to leave, but Bucky finally just stood up and left, making me jog to catch up. The next stop we hit was the library, which was  _ huge.  _ Much larger and more diverse than any library I was used to. I checked out a few books, which Bucky might not have minded, if by a few I meant two or three. No... I filled a bag. The number came to 14 books, and he made sure I was the one who had to carry it. After all, they weren’t all small books.

The last place we went to was the record store. Bucky seemed to light up looking at the vinyl, while I took off to check the CDs and movies. I made a few more purchases, and seeing Bucky eyeing a Frank Sinatra vinyl I sent him out to wait while I got it for him. Save it for his birthday, or something. 

It took us a little while to get back, seeing how far we'd strayed, but we did, finally. The team hadn't even noticed we'd gone out, but I was glad. I was getting tired, and I just kind of felt like turning on Netflix and binge-watching something for a few more hours. Bucky had zero interest in my choice of entertainment, Black Butler, so he just took to his room with the one book he'd selected from the library.

I got through about six episodes before I wanted to change it up, and unlike where most people might find the news boring, I like seeing what's going on around me, so I flicked to that channel. The usual stuff, weather, traffic reports, some crime, thankfully only little stuff.

And then something that made me stop. I was confused at first, thinking they must've got something wrong, but...

_ "The Winter Soldier has been sighted in New York, by multiple people. Reports are coming in from all over the place, some with photos. The Hydra assassin hasn't been seen in eight years, until just a few hours ago."  _ Pictures began to come up of the Winter Soldier, beside the face of the reporter. 

_ "He was seen with a young girl, looking to be around fourteen to sixteen. We aren't  _ _ sure what his relations to the girl are quite yet, but we pray she isn't in any danger."  _ Bucky's cell began to ring, and when I tore my eyes away from the screen, it was Steve.

When I looked up at the screen to see a picture of myself and Bucky from today on display, my eyes widened, and everything clicked into place. His arm. The red star. It was the same as the arm of the Winter Soldier. 

_ "We caution anyone who might try and confront him, he's dangerous. He's heartless, ruthless, and should not be approached. If spotted, please call the police. He must be brought to justice for his crimes."  _ Everything started to make sense. I'd heard of the Winter Soldier, of all the things he'd done, but I'd never once seen a picture. If I had, I might've put two and two together.

_ Bucky _ was the Winter Soldier.


End file.
